All India Radio (AIR) news will soon be
available on mobile phones via SMS. The public sector
broadcaster is all set to launch an SMS-based service which
will bring the latest headlines to registered users across the
country. Official sources said through this service, AIR
would send news alerts thrice every day to its registered
users. Every SMS will have three to four news headlines along
with an advertisement tag. Officials said this latest service
was expected to expand the reach of AIR, while the ad tag
could generate revenues as the service becomes popular. The
headlines, which will constitute news content, will have
nearly 100 characters.

Software giant Microsoft has announced a
long-awaited restructuring, organizing itself around key areas
designed to make the company more nimble in a fiercely
competitive technology sector. The company said in a release
that it will deliver multiple devices and services as a single
company rather than a collection of separate divisions, after
completing its first major overhaul in five years.

The government has cleared investments from
Bosch and Samsung, among the first set of Rs.1,000 crore
proposals, under National Policy on Electronics, telecom
minister Kapil Sibal said. The government is targeting
Rs.25,000 crore worth of investments by the end of the current
fiscal.

India’s exports registered a sharp contraction
for a second month in a row in June, continuing to be a sore
point for the economy and taking away somewhat the comfort
offered a drop in imports.

Exports fell 4.56% in June from a year earlier
to $23.79 billion, against a 1.1% decline in the previous
month to $24.92 billion. The government and the Reserve Bank
of India’s concerted efforts over the past few weeks to curb
gold imports, however, brought some cheer with overall imports
declining 0.37% to $36.03 billion. The country’s total
imports had stood at $44.65 billion in May.

The
government has drawn up a plan to remove bottlenecks holding
back investment in manufacturing at the state level, a move
aimed at revitalizing the flagging sector by aligning states’
approach with the long-term strategy of the Centre. As part
of the initiative, the Planning Commission and National
Manufacturing and Competitive Council (NMCC) will develop
coordinated action plans with states that have witnessed
slackness in investment in manufacturing.

“The idea is
to get a holistic view of the issues that are holding back
manufacturing in each state and, accordingly, suggest tools
and techniques that can revive the overall climate,” Planning
Commission member Arun Maira told ET.

The first
phase of the exercise, to be flagged off this month (July
2013), will cover Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, with special focus on
steel, textiles, food processing and medium and small
enterprises, sectors seen as large job creators.

The share of
manufacturing in India’s GDP has remained at 15% - 16% for
over three decades now. In its effort to give a boost to the
sector, the government recently cleared the National
Manufacturing Policy, which aims to create 100 million skilled
job and increase the sector’s share in the GDP to 25% by 2022.

However, the overall investment climate in the
country has largely remained unattractive to investors because
of issues related to land acquisition, delay in environmental
clearances and lack of clarity on key policies like foreign
direct investment. Experts feel that addressing these issues
could help in changing the scenario.

“There is a lot of alignment required at the
Centre and the state levels, as most of the states are simply
not aware of how to draw maximum investments on the back of
such reforms,” said an official of the Confederation of Indian
Industry.

After PMO’s putting on hold under international
pressures its Preferential Market Access (PMA) policy for
private telecom companies which was designed to help local
manufacturers of electronic equipment, Government shows
concern to push manufacturing in the country.

An Economic Times news says a high level
meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has
discussed a spectrum of ideas to boost domestic manufacturing.

The manufacturing sector has seen a sharp
deceleration in growth in the last one year,, with growth
falling to 1% in 2012-13 ad showing no signs of pick up even
in the current fiscal. The manufacturing slowdown has also
spilled over to the services sector.

The Committee is of the view if we have to grow
at 8-9% in the future, this has to come through sustained
growth in manufacturing, particularly labour intensive
manufacturing, the Prime Minister said at the meeting of the
high-level committee on manufacturing. “Manufacturing and
manufacturing alone can absorb all those who need better
livelihood opportunities.”

“Our exports consist of raw materials and
primary goods and our imports consist overwhelmingly of
manufacturing. We need to remedy this situation by removing
the bottlenecks that hinder our progress in manufacturing and
taking full advantage of our strengths” PM said.

The high-level committee on manufacturing is
headed by the Prime Minister and includes ministers of finance
and commerce and industry, deputy chairman of Planning
Commission, Chairman of Economic Advisory Council and the
principal secretary to prime minister. The Chairman of the
National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council is the member
convener.

The government has already announced a National
Manufacturing Policy that seeks to take the share of
manufacturing to 25% of GDP in the next 10 years from around
14% now.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram says that banks
have been advised to reduce their base rates and pass on the
benefit of policy rate cuts to borrowers to help stimulate
growth. FM reviewed the performance of state-run banks and
financial institutions against the backdrop of a sluggish
economy. The government is keen to boost growth, which has
slowed to a decade low of 5% in 2012-13.

The finance ministry has said service tax will
not be levied on units inside SEZs or developers of such zones
in respect of services consumed in the course of authorized
operations. The service tax, education cess and the secondary
and higher education cess levied on services consumed will be
refunded to ensure that India’s exports do not lose
competitive edge. The ministry also provided an option of
waiving off service in the case of authorized operations.

The India-China trade deficit increased by 34%
to reach $12 billion in the first five months of the year,
presenting a bleak picture for Indian exports as bilateral
trade continued to decline, denting hopes of achieving a trade
volume of $100 million by 2015. According to the data
released by Chinese Customs, the India-China bilateral trade
touched $26.5 billion till May 2013. The trade deficit for
India has widened year-on-year to $12 billion, up by 34%. The
trade volume was lowered by over $two billion compared to last
year.

Industrial
activity has been sluggish in the first three months of the
current financial year and there is little indication of a
pick-up anytime soon, two separate sets of data released show.

The combined output of eight core sector
industries rose 2.3% in May, tad less than 2.4% in the
previous month, according to data released by the commerce and
industry ministry. Core sector output had risen 7.2% in May
2012.

HSBC’s purchasing manager’s index for
manufacturing came in at 50.3 in June, barely ahead of the
50-month low of 50.1 in the previous month.

The eight core sector industries – including
coal, natural gas, crude, fertilizers and electrify – have a
combined weight of 37.9% in the Index of Industrial Production
(IIP), making the core index a lead indicator of industrial
production.

The finance ministry has done well to clear the
confusion on how R&D centers and back-offices of multinational
companies (MNCs) would be taxed. The new set of guidelines by
the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will lower tax
disputes and not tarnish India’s appeal; as an R&D hub. The
relief is on two counts. One, CBDT has eased the norms for
development centres to quality as contract R&D centres.
Disputes arose as taxpayers insisted that they were contract
R&D service providers bearing insignificant risks, while
transfer pricing officers held otherwise, and sought to
attribute higher profits to the Indian operations. More leeway
will soften the tax blow. Two, these units do not have to
mandatorily use the profit-split method to computer transfer
prices. Such a fiat would have meant quantifying the
relative contribution of the parent and the captive R&D centre
to the profits of MNC. And adjustments would arbitrary in the
absence of relevant data.

CBDT’s revised circular provides clarity on the
principles to distinguish between three categories of R&D
centres ; entrepreneurial, cost-sharing and contract R&Ds.
This will prevent arbitrary tax demands. The larger point is
that it is conceptually wrong for the tax authorities to
demand a share of the profits arising from R&D at a captive
unit.

The government has brought some tax relief to
development centres engaged in contract research and
development (R&D) services with insignificant risk by relaxing
norms for identifying these. As captive centres of
multinational companies perform minimal functions for the
parent and share a low risk, these would be subjected to a
less stringent way of computing taxable income.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
revised its circular No.3 of March to classify R&D centres set
up by foreign companies in three broad categories based on
functions, assets and risks assumed by the centre established
in India. These include centres which are entrepreneurial in
nature; centres which are based on cost-sharing arrangements;
and centres which undertake contract R&D.

For determining the arm’s length price,
taxpayers often insist that they are contract R&D service
providers with insignificant risk, while assessing officers
treat them as full or significant risk-bearing entities and
make transfer pricing adjustments accordingly.

Global PC marked its longest decline in June quarter, when it shrunk for sixth straight quarter, with sales
falling 11% from 85 million units to 76 million units.
Installed base for PCs, once the cornerstone of technology
spend in enterprises, is being steadily replaced by tablets.
Influx of cheaper tablets is what industry experts are blaming
for the fast wilting of the PC market. Most PC making
companies including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and Asus
reported fall in their share of the market, raising fresh
questions about the future of these hardware behemoths. It
also calls into question the longevity of companies such as
Indian Information technology services providers whose
business models were centered on such devices that seem to be
fast fading away from enterprise technology landscape.

India is set to have the highest internet
protocol (IP) traffic growth with a 44 per cent compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2012 and 2017, followed by
Indonesia (42 per cent) and South Africa (31 per cent) a new
study has shown.

World’s
largest PC maker Hewlett-Packard has launched consultancy
service for big data analytics to capture a share of the
market in which it is seen as a late entrant.

Indian banks and telecom companies are already
showing interest in our big data offerings, said Mohan
Krishnan, VP and General Manager, technology consulting and
services in Asia Pacific and Japan at HP World Tour in Beijing
this week.

Krishnan said HP can advise its enterprise
customers on strategy, design and implementation techniques,
helping them in cutting down costs and increasing
productivity. While there is limited scope in structured
data, which is only about a fifth of total data being
generated, HP is now focusing on unstructured data on social
media etc.

CSIR is set
to launch its fastest supercomputer at India’s first ever big
data science institute in Bangalore in July marking its entry
into the new field of data intensive scientific discovery.

The supercomputer will have a speed of 360 tera
flops, making it the fourth fastest machine in the country and
will be housed in the CSIR Fourth Paradigm Institute
(CSIR-4P1).

The Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR) has decided to reposition its Bangalore-based
Centre for Mathematical Modeling and Computer Simulation (CMMACS)
to deal with data intensive scientific discovery, which has
emerged as the fourth paradigm of science.

The advent of cloud computing has changed the
way IT demands are met. There are some factors which make
cloud computing a must for SMEs. Cloud computing
significantly brings down the running cost for an
organization. “Cloud computing has emerged as a new era in IT
and is at the top of the agenda for every CIO today. SMEs
that contribute to 1/3rd of IT investment fin cloud computing
as a most appealing IT feature. As per a recent study by
Zinnov, the cloud computing market in India is estimated at
around $400 million and is expected to reach $4.5 billion by
2015 and SMEs being the backbone of Indian economy are likely
to drive the growth. Cloud adaptation not only brings down
total cost of ownership, lowers risk and promotes innovation,
but also offers a protected IT set up with high business
continuity and IT talent retention which is most crucial for
SMEs today,” says Neeraj Athalye, Head, Cloud Business, SAP
India Pvt. Ltd.

The original designers of the internet never
intended it to reach out and go beyond the domain of the
universities and government labs for which it was created.
But the Google guys want to make it universally accessible and
useful. Their balloon-powered internet project aims to
provide fast, affordable connection to rural and remote areas,
especially in emerging countries.

Between now and 2015, Google expects 500
million new users from the US. A large part of it is going to
come from emerging countries like India, Brazil or Indonesia.
Google is working to get more people online In emerging
markets by making the internet faster and cheaper and its new
initiatives is a step in this direction. It believes that in
markets such as India, most of the new users will experience
the internet for the first time on a mobile device – not on a
desktop computer.

Indian IT
services players might have seized more of the global market,
but the country’s performance in IT manufacturing space has
remained lacklustre. Industry analysts often highlight that
India lacks infrastructure support, such as power, finance,
transport and logistics that are crucial for building the
country’s much needed manufacturing capability. Besides there
is also talk of lack in availability of skilled manufacturing
labour and that the country has complex approval procedures
for setting up new manufacturing facilities. The Industry
says the government needs to do a lot more to create the right
atmosphere for ICT manufacturing in the country.

The telecom department (DoT) plans not to allow
spectrum sharing and trading among operators for the time
being as it may lead to a failure of the proposed airwaves
sale, delaying the implementation of a key provision of the
National Telecom Policy announced last year.

A senior DoT official said there were fears
that spectrum sharing at this stage could encourage
cartelization among operators during the upcoming auctions and
prevent the government from realizing the true value of this
resource.

Nokia plans to introduce elements of its most
expensive Lumia phones in its lower priced smart phones in the
Asha range and bring down prices of the Windows phones, said
the chief executive of the Finnish phone maker.

The company has launched its newest Lumia
phone 1020 for the US market. But the company Is still some
time away from bringing the phone to India, where it possibly
sees more potential for cheaper phones than this one. The US
launch price of the 1020, which has been positioned more as an
incredible camera coupled with the existing smart phone,
roughly translates to Rs.42,000. Apple’s iPhone 5 is
available at Rs.45,000.

Last year,
when China quietly passed the United States as the largest
smart phone market, the dynamics of global phone making
shifted. Until then, the global market for smart phones had
been defined by the rivalry between Apple and Samsung
Electronics. They built expensive phones as must-have
products for affluent consumers in wealthy countries.

Now more phones are being designed for
consumers in emerging markets, who are expected to account for
most of the growth in smart phone sales in the future. That
presents an opportunity for the major Chinese phone makers,
like Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE, Coolpad, Xiaomi and Oppo.

While Samsung is the biggest smart phone vendor
in China, with a market share of 20% in the first quarter of
2013, according to the research firm Canalys, several Chinese
companies have surged past Apple, which holds 8%.

These include
internationally recognized names like Huawel, known for
network switching gear, and Lenovo, known for ThinkPad
laptops, which moved into the No.3 and No.4 positions in the
first quarter. But there are nearly 400 other little-known
makers in China, where two-thirds of the world’s smart phones
are made. One of these, Coolpad, leapfrogged from seventh
place a year ago to second in the first three months of this
year, with a 10% share.

“There’s a long tail of local competitors that
are going to push Apple and Samsung harder and harder,” said
Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics. “There’s a
million and one people trying to eat their lunch.” Chinese
phone shoppers are concerned about price because most phones
are sold without subsidies from network operators. In the
United States and Europe, the wide use of subsidies masks what
consumers pay for phones.

The Chinese also switch phones far more often
than their counter parts in the West – generally after about
six months, analysts say, compared with every two years or so
in developed economies. Fickle customers mean market share
shifts swiftly, and the fortunes of companies rise and fall
almost as fast.

Apple’s and Samsung’s position in the high end
of the market allows them to collect most of the profit from
smart phone sales in China, analysts say. Apple sells 55
percent of the phones priced at $450 or more with Samsung
accounting for 40 percent.

Indian smart phone mobile segment is finally
catching up with global peers. During January-April, 9.4
million smart phones were shipped into the country, a growth
of 167.3 per cent on an annual basis, according to a survey.
During the period, smart phones accounted for 12.8 per cent of
the cell phone market in India.

The country saw 73.5 million mobile handset
shipments for the January-April period, representing a growth
of 11 per cent year-on-year, said Cyber Media Research’s India
monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review, April 2013.

While South Korea-based Samsung Electronics
retained its top position in the smart phone segment, Indian
players Micromax and Karbonn emerged as the number two and
three players, displacing other international rivals like
Nokia and Sony Corp.

The
government’s proposed new policy allowing 100% Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) in the telecom service sector is likely to
come as a breather for telecom service providers who are
looking to exit after a long run in a cut-throat market.

Scarred by the 2G spectrums scandal and hit by
high interest rates amid a price war, many companies have no
magic cure – and a buyer to help them get rich after all those
hard years may be just it.

The current policy allows 74% FDI in the
telecom service sector. However the proposed 100% FDI will
make mergers and acquisitions – and valuations of local firms
– more attractive as foreign companies will get complete
management control over the companies.

Industry sources say at least three pan-India
telecom service providers have had discussions with potential
buyers to set all their stakes in the companies over the last
six months.

The Prime Minister’s Office has decided to
defer the extension of the policy of ‘preferential market
access’ to private telecom operators, a move that comes amid
mounting pressure from international trade associations and
the domestic telecom industry. Preferential Market Access (PMA)
mandating a phased increase in procurement from domestic
industry will now be implemented only by state-run enterprises
and not private telecom companies.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by
National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Principle
Secretary Pulok Chaterjee, cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth,
telecom secretary MF Farooqui and department of information
technology (DIT) secretary J Stayanarayana. A notification
issued by the department of telecommunications (DoT) last
October stipulated that telecom operators should give
preference to telecom products made in the country.

India’s new telecom policy (NTP 2012) says that domestic
production should meet up to 80% of the country’s telecom
equipment requirement by 2020. The policy further states that
India will provide preference to domestically manufactured
products that have security implications, consistent with its
commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Through this policy, which was approved by the Cabinet in
February last year, the government hoped to push manufacturing
capabilities in the country to reduce dependency on imports,
especially in strategic fields like defence and telecom.
However, telecom equipment makers have been urging the
government to suspend notification and clarify that the PMA
policy will not be applied to private sector procurements.

Earlier, the PMO had raised these concerns with the DoT,
questioning whether indigenous manufacturing at the cost of
new and better products might lead to market distortions.
It even suggested alterative measures to assuage the security
concerns arising from import of telecom gear. Audits,
certification and setting up standards to handle security
issues and a dialogue with the industry were among the
proposals made by the PMO to the DoT and the DIT.

Several
international business lobbies, including the US-India
Business Council, Digital Europe, Information Technology
Industry Council, and the Telecommunications Industry
Association of US, have warned that India's plans of extending
the PMA provisions to private mobile phone companies would
result in an unprecedented interference in the procurement of
commercial entities. They have also said the policy is
inconsistent with India’s obligations to the WTO. However, the
government has till now defended the policy on the grounds
that PMA would include products locally manufactured even by
the multinationals and wouldn’t be restricted to Indian
companies. As far as the procurement of government entities is
concerned, PMA would continue to hold.

ELCINA is disappointed and dismayed that the
Government has succumbed to international even local
pressures, throwing to wind interests and genuine concerns of
the indigenous industry. Salutary provisions of the Telecom
Policy also become a casualty. This will make sure that
large-scale avoidable imports flood the country draining
foreign exchange reserves already under great stress with
depreciation of the Rupee.

There is a strong feeling among the local
Industry that although India has made impressive gains in
various areas, our manufacturing sector hasn’t seen the
success experienced in other fast-growing economies like
China.

Given a right policy framework for growth
through indigenous manufacturing there are innumerable
possibilities of creating large employment which is our
country’s crying need.

The Telecom Commission is likely to widen the
role of the proposed finance corporation as banks are
unwilling to led to the telecom sector after having exhausted
their lending limit to the sector and financial risk.

The proposed “Telecom Finance Corporation (TF)
can become a sector-specific funding agency for implementing
key government policies like subsidizing local telecom gear
manufacturing, funding green energy solutions for mobile
towers and also increasing rural tele-density”, says an
internal Telecom Commission note. This will be in addition to
helping cash-strapped mobile phone companies to expand their
networks and line up cash to participate in the next round of
airwave auctions.

In an internal presentation to the Telecom
Commission, to DoT officials have claimed that Indian banks
are finding it a challenge lending to telecom companies since
“the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prudential norms require
them to internally fix limits for exposure to different
sectors.” Indian banks are finding it difficult to lend
further due to sectorial exposure limits.

There have
been no less than eight new phones added to Samsung’s ‘galaxy’
of smart phones since January in India. It is banking on
buyers to be able to differentiate, for example, between
Galaxy phones like the Mega 5.8 (Rs.25,100 with a 5.8 inch
screen), the Grand Quattro (Rs.17,435 with a 4.7 inch screen)
and the Grand (Rs.19,900 with a 5 inch screen). With one such
new launch, the galaxy Star, priced at Rs.5,240, it straddles
both the extremes on the smart phone price spectrum (its
Galaxy S4 comes for Rs.41,500).

With the slew of new launches, the South Korean
chaebol has made it clear it will pull all stops to cover
every need gap in the smart phone market. It is doing so in
other global markets, even multiplying its sub-brand, the
Galaxy S (Mini, Active, Google Edition, Zoom) and India will
be no different.

The Telecom Commission, the highest
decision-making body of the department of telecom (DoT), on
Tuesday approved 100% foreign direct investment in the telecom
sector. Once ratified, the new policy will allow foreign
telecom operators to buy out existing Indian partners, as they
will no longer need to have a minority shareholder in the
country.

This was one of the recommendations of a
high-powered committee chaired by Arvind Mayaram, secretary in
the ministry of finance, which suggested more liberal FDI
norms for various sectors, including aviation and
telecommunications. The decision comes even as the home
ministry warned against removing any restrictions on FDI in
certain critical sectors, citing security concerns.

The department of telecom (DoT) is likely to
set up a state-of-the-art security lab to test network gear
used by mobile phone companies as it failed to reach an
agreement on the proposed funding model with Tech Mahindra and
Wipro. The two were interested in setting up such a
certification facility.

Both the companies have recently told DoT that
the proposed lab can be set up only after a workable funding
model is thrashed out since testing tools to certify networks
cost millions of dollars and involve multiple stakeholders.

The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore,
which was originally tasked with the job, has suggested that
“it may be appropriate to set up the test lab under DoT” since
the exercise entails multi-level interactions between the
telecom department, network gear makers, system vendors and
mobile phone companies.

The internal committee of the department of
telecommunications (DoT) working out the mergers and
acquisitions norms for the telecom industry has once again
proposed a new definition, for cross-holding norms. The new
definition, third one to be proposed, seeks to bar a telecom
company from holding any equity in its ‘competitor’ in the
same service area.

The current cross-holding norms bar a telco
from holding more than 10% in its competitor in the same
circle.

India’s smartphone market has been growing at a
scorching pace – four times that of the global average.
Research Consultancy, Strategy Analytics, in a just released
report for January-March, 2013, ranked India as the
third-largest smart-phone market in the world, after United
States and China. Smartphone sale volumes, worldwide,
expanded by 39 per cent year-on-year, compared to an increase
by 163 per cent in India. That is faster growth than China
(86 per cent). Japan (24 per cent), the United States (19 per
cent) and almost all other major markets in the same time.

The Beijing-based Lenova group, the world’s
second largest personal computer manufacturer with revenue of
$29.5 bn in 2012, entered the smart phone space only in
2011. With a strong market in China, it is looking to grow
beyond its home ground. India plays a pivotal role in
furthering its smart phones business in emerging markets
(which also include Brazil, Russia, Africa and West Asia).
Lenova is targeting to ship 50 mn smart phones globally in
2013, up from 29 mn in 2012.

South Korean electronics major Samsung is
planning to invest over Rs.500 crore to ramp up its mobile
production capacity in India, industry sources said. The
company had earlier said that it will manufacture its latest
high-end Galaxy S4 smartphone in its Noida facility.

Consumer electronics majors LG, Samsung and
Videocon have ganged up to put pressure on the government to
stop ace rival Sony from importing flat-panel television sets
from Thailand and Asean countries under free trade
agreements arguing such imports do not fulfill ‘nil’ or
concessional duty norms

LG, Samsung and Videocon, under the aegis of
apex industry body Consumer Electronics and Appliances
Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), have written and made
representation to the ministries of commerce, finance,
communications and IT, saying Japanese companies like Sony and
Toshiba do not fulfill the value addition norms specified
under the free trade agreements (FTAs) and yet enjoy nil or
concessional duty, creating an uncompetitive business
environment for domestic manufacturers.

“Domestic manufacturers are suffering with
10-12% margin disadvantage against few Japanese companies,
which is pinching when the market has become so competitive
and the fall of rupee is creating additional pressure,” says R
Zutshi, Samsung India Deputy Managing Director, who is leading
the cause under CEAMA.

Panasonic Corporation plans to invest an
additional Rs.1,500 crore to expand its India operations over
the next three years to rapidly grow its market share, a
company executive said. “We are aiming to achieve a sales
revenue of $3.7 billion by fiscal 2015-16 from the projected
$1.7 billion this fiscal (2013-14) and increase our market
share substantially across the country,” Panasonic India
Managing Director Manish Sharma told reporters. The
multi-billion dollar Japanese conglomerate manufacturers and
markets a range of consumer electronics and home appliances
such as TVs, cameras, air-conditioners, washing machines and
refrigerators.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest
television maker, acquired Boxes Inc. a New York based
start-up whose set-top box can record broadcasts and stream
online video.

Boxee makes video-streaming applications for
phones and tablets based on Google Inc’s Android and Apple
Inc’s iOS operating systems, in addition to the software that
powers its connected TV box. Samsung said closely held Boxee
can help it develop internet-enabled devices. “Samsung has
acquired key talent and assets from Boxee,” a spokeswoman for
the Suwon, South Korea-based company said it an emailed
statement.” This will help us continue to improve the overall
user experience across our connected devices.”

Consumers’ living rooms are turning into a
major battleground for technology companies this year.

Taiwan-based
electronics goods major AOC International plans to do for
India in LED televisions what Japanese-born Chinese brand Akai
did in the old CRT televisions by making it significantly
affordable for a mass market.

The $12 billion Kong stock exchange listed
company is looking to cash in on Indians’ growing fondness for
low-cost LEDs. On the cards are 24 warehouses and 20 branch
offices across India and a Rs.100 crore marketing blitz over
the next six months.

AOC offers the latest LED technology-based TVs
starting as low as Rs.7,000 whereas leading brands such as LG
and Samsung sell the product with comparable specifications at
more than twice the amount. However, Korean electronics giant
LG also announced recently that India will be a manufacturing
base for its low-end LED TVs and said these would be priced
below Rs.10,000. AOC is eyeing India as one of the big focus
countries for the product.

The solar sector has attracted total funding of
$3,857 million through 70 deals, including three Indian
transactions, the April-June period this year says a report.
The deals that were listed in the project funding category
included Acme Solar’s 25-MW Welspun Energy’s 20-MW projects.

Computex 2013, was inaugurated by Shri Jeou Ma,
H.E. President of Taiwan. It is the second largest ICT fair in
the world with over 1,30,000 visitors and 5024 exhibitors
participating. Computex 2013 focused on three themes- hardware
for cloud technologies, smart mobility and touch and enable.

With the support of India Taiwan Association (ITA)
and TCA, a seminar on opportunities in Indian Electronics
System Design and Manufacturing sector was also organized in
Computex 2013 on June 7, 2013. The response to the seminar was
excellent. Over 100 delegates registered for the event, before
further registrations had to be closed. Apart from DG, ITA,
Shri Pradeep Rawat, Taipei Computer Association Secretary
General, Shri Du, DDG, Foreign Trade, Shri David Hsu, Former
Taiwan Representative to India were among those present. A
video message of Shri J Satyanarayana, Secretary, DeitY (Vice
Minister) was played. Dr. Ajay Kumar, Joint Secretary made a
presentation regarding the policy initiatives of the
Government at the event. Executive Director MAIT, Shri Anwar
Shirpurwala made a presentation regarding opportunities in the
PC/tablet/smart phone and telecom related sectors. Shri
Sravanan made a presentation regarding the SriCity industrial
township as a one stop readymade infrastructure for setting up
manufacturing facility. Shri NK Goyal, CMAI made a
presentation regarding the academic tie-up with Colleges for
development of human resource in the area of electronics.

The
delegation also met representatives from several Taiwanese
companies and industrial associations during the visit. These
companies are Everlight Electronics, D-Link Corporation,
Gigabyte Technology, HTC, TECO /Century Development
Corporation, UMC, AU Optronics (AUO), Nuvoton Technology,
Advantech, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA),
An Won Ltd., Fortrend Taiwan Scientific Corp., Institute of
Information Industry (III), Taiwan Electrical and Electronics
Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA), Acer, Mediatek, LiteOn and
CTBC Co. Ltd. (Chinatrust). Most of these companies have shown
interest in the Indian market in a bigger way and evaluating
the electronics manufacturing opportunities in India.

A proposal
for setting up a Taiwan Electronic City, was also received.
This City would facilitate setting up of dedicated electronic
manufacturing cluster which would enable companies from Taiwan
to enter into the India market. It was felt that the said
project could be implemented in collaboration with Software
Technology Parks of India (STPI). Suitable location is being
finalized in consultation with the developer.

At least
three confirmed proposals for manufacturing were received
during the visit. These companies were looking for joint
venture partners for setting up manufacturing facilities in
India. Some of the members from the industry in the delegation
had separate one-to-one discussions with these companies on
possibility of collaboration. Discussions were also held with
one of the leading foundries to set up a mechanism which would
help start ups and fabless companies to have their chips
fabricated in the said foundry. CDAC has been requested to
take the discussions further and come up with proposals for
the consideration of the Government.

Discussions
for institutional collaboration were held with Mr. Yuen-Chuan
Chao, President and CEO, Taiwan External Trade Council (TAITRA).
Among other things, TAITRA has agreed in-principle to have the
Electronics eNewsletter translated into Mandarin language and
circulated amongst its members. An MoU is also being discussed
for signing between TAITRA and DeitY.

The visit highlighted need for continued
interaction both at B2B and G2B level to reduce the barriers
amongst Taiwanese companies to enter into Indian market.
Industry associations like ICA, MAIT and ELCINA and Government
organizations like STPI and CDAC have significant follow up
role to continue the dialogue and take the potential leads to
actual collaboration/investment. Companies looking to partner
with Taiwanese companies as joint venture or for technology
collaboration may write to DeitY. For more information write
to Mr. Deepak Sharma, Additional Director, DeitY (Email:
dsharma@deity.gov.in).

An ‘Technical Evaluation Committee’ has been
formed to evaluate applications received under M-SIPS Scheme
for Assembly Testing Marking and Packaging (ATMP) of Logic
Microprocessor, Memory, Chip Components, Discrete
Semiconductors, Power Semiconductors, LEDs, LCD Fabrication,
LCD Glass Substrate products. The members of the Committee are
as under:

DeitY had put
in place a Portal http://electronicstds.gov.in/CREITG/ for
facilitating applications and processes under the Compulsory
Registration Scheme. Users are being regularly authenticated
and so far 24 users have been enabled and 5 applications have
also been filed online for Registration with BIS. A link to
the portal is available on the website
www.deity.gov.in/esdm.

In partial modification of MSIPS Guidelines
dated 07-10-2012, an amendment has been issued by DeitY on May
23, 2013. According to this, Para 2.3 (a) of the MSIPS
Guidelines shall be read as,

“ a. Expenditure incurred on land and building
required for the project. The total cost of land exceeding 2%
of the total capital expenditure on the project shall not be
eligible for reckoning of incentives in this regard;”

Thus the cost of building will not be
considered in computation of incentives in this regard.

DeitY has made internal arrangements in an
effort to respond to the requests for extension beyond July 3,
2013 to comply with the requirements of the Compulsory
Registration Order for electronic goods. A team of officers
has been specifically designated for this purpose. Sh. Anil
Kumar Chawla, Director, DeitY (ak.chawala@nic.in) has been
nominated as the ‘Nodal Officer, ESDM (Standards)- CR
Extension’ for the purpose of receiving and processing of
applications for extension of date under the Compulsory
Registration Order for electronic goods. Smt. Asha Nangia,
Additional Director, DeitY, (anangia@mit.gov.in) would serve
as the ‘Nodal Officer, ESDM (Standards) - CR Extension’ in
absence of Sh. Anil Kumar Chawla, Director, DeitY.

Attention is invited to all manufacturers and
importers of electronic products covered under the
‘Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements
for Compulsory Registration) Order, 2012’ that the said order
comes into effect on 3rd July 2013. The said order mandates
compliance to Indian Safety Standards for 15 notified
categories of electronic goods.

Considering that some manufacturers and
importers have yet not received registration numbers from
Bureau of Indian Standards, the Department of Electronics and
IT (DeitY) has put in place an interim mechanism vide Gazette
notification No. 714 dated 22.3.2013. According to the said
notification, DeitY shall provide provisional clearance to the
manufacturers and importers to sell goods and to obtain
registration for a period of three months beyond July 3, 2013.
A copy of the said extension order is available on website
www.deity.gov.in/esdm.

DeitY has accordingly put in place a system for
granting provisional clearances for units which have not
obtained their registration. The application forms and related
documents for seeking provisional clearance are available at
www.deity.gov.in/esdm. The applications have to be made to
Nodal Officer (Standards – Extension), at DeitY in terms of
the aforesaid notification. All manufacturers and importers
are requested to make their applications at the earliest to
avoid any difficulty in getting their products sold in the
market.

By MMI India
Pvt. Ltd
Electronica India and Productronica India is an event that
helps in the cooperation between the ministries and official
organizations and is supported by all the industries
associated with the sector. It will bring together exhibitors
from all around the country to come together and be a part of
a platform that helps them to connect with their prospective
buyers...
Visitor RegistrationBook
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As the largest exhibition featuring China-made products in
India, the China Sourcing Fairs offers exhibitors a perfect
platform to meet face-to-face with quality buyers from India
and neighboring countries...
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SmartCards Expo is going to be organized with a view of
bringing together engineers, entrepreneurs, consultants and
professionals from the smart card industry. This show will be
highlighting the modern tools and trends associated with smart
cards...
Visitor RegistrationBook
a Stall

The Strategic Electronics sector presents an
unprecedented opportunity as well as challenge for our
country. This is equally so for the domestic industry which
needs to play a much greater role in this sector. The
strategic electronics segment encompasses Communication
systems, Radars & Sonars, Network Centric systems, Electronic
Warfare systems, Weapon systems, Satellite based
Communication,Navigation and Surveillance systems,
Navigational aids, underwater electronic systems, infra-red
based detection and ranging system, disaster management
system, internal security systems…the list is long. All modern
weapon systems, military, aerospace, naval or for internal
security depend heavily on electronics.

The production of strategic electronics in
India has been growing steadily from Rs 5700 crores in 2007-08
to a projected figure of Rs.12,000 crores during 2012-13 and
exceed Rs 13,800 Crores during 2013-14 recording a growth of
over 15%. It is notable that India's defence imports rose from
US$ 1.26 Bn in 2007 to US$ 3.4 Bn in 2011 !

The Defence Production and Procurement policies
have been introduced over last few years to enable greater
indigenisation of production and reduced dependence on
imports. Till date success has been limited. The new Defence
Procurement Policy which came into force on 1st June 2013, “
aims at enhancing transparency and probity in military
purchases and given first right of refusal to Indian vendors
to promote indigenous industry”. DPP 2013 aims to balance the
competing requirements of expediting capital procurement,
developing a robust indigenous defence sector and conforming
to the highest standards public accountability. The biggest
shift is that indigenous content will be gauged all the way
down to the chain of vendors and import content in components
supplied by subvendors will not be considered as indigenous !

SES brings this opportunity to domestic players
and endeavors to bring about partnerships with global players
who are vital for meeting the strategic needs of the country.

Objectives of the Event

Bring all stakeholders on one platform to
enable better understanding of requirements of the electronic
components & systems by the defence establishment

Facilitate in creating indigenous capability to
manufacture defence equipment and meet these requirements
nCreate awareness about opportunities in the Strategic

Electronics sector

Involve the Small and Medium Enterprises to
meet the requirements of Defence Forces

Bridging the gap between R&D, Government
organizations and businesses

Explain and highlight the new Defence
Production and Offset Policies

Encouraging and enabling investments for
developing strengths in Strategic Electronics

ELCINA is pioneering the
development of Manufacturing Clusters in India and has started
at two locations, one near New Delhi (Bhiwadi) and the other
near Chennai (Sri City)

ELCINA Invites Global players
interested in Investing in India to join these Clusters and
take benefit of the policy incentives provided by Govt of
India and service to the growing Indian market. While
providing an ideal, trouble free and supportive environment in
the Clusters, ELCINA can also assist companies in terms of
interacting with Government, preparation of M-SIPS application
and finding the partner for JVs.

Vision

To create a
globally competitive electronics design and manufacturing
industry to meet the country's needs and serve the
international market.

Objectives:

To create an eco-system for a
globally competitive ESDM sector in the country to achieve a
turnover of about USD 400 Billion by 2020 involving investment
of about USD 100 Billion and employment to around 28 Million
people at various levels. To build a strong supply chain of
raw materials, parts and electronic components to raise the
indigenous availability of these inputs from the present
20-25% to over 60% by 2020. To facilitate cost effective loans
for setting up ESDM units in identified areas.

“ELCINA Model Manufacturing
Clusters, as pioneering EMC projects, are envisaged to provide
a level playing field to Indian manufacturers”

NH 5 (part of the Golden
Quadrilateral Road Network which connects the 4 major metros
of Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai) on the eastern side,

Tada–Tirupati State highway on the
northern boundary

Kadur–Satyavedu-Tiruvallur–Sriperumbudur
roads along the western boundary.

Chennai International Airport is a
90 minute drive

Chennai Port on the Coromandel
Coast is 65 km

Ennore Port is about 50 km
south-east Krishnapatnam Port in Nellore District of Andhra
Pradesh is 100 km north-east

Sri City is well-connected through
a broad-gauge railway line that links the metro cities of
India. Express trains connecting Chennai, Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Kolkata and Delhi stop at Sullurpeta which is 12 km
north of Sri City. Tirupati International Airport is 75 km
from Sri City.

3. Greater Noida (Proposed)
-

ELCINA is in advance stage of
dialogue with Greater NOIDA authority to get the proposed site
allotted for this purpose. A number of industries have shown
interest to set up their plant in this location making it a
preferred location for ESDM Cluster. This cluster will be in
partnership with one of the industry promotion corporation of
UP State Government.

Common Benefits to the
companies in any Cluster

- M-SIPS Benefits – Capital
subsidy up to 25% or capital expenditure of the project. In
addition, refund of Indirect Taxes paid on Capital Equipment.

A Research Report on the
‘Landscape of Opportunities & Challenges in Strategic
Electronics” has been prepared jointly by ELCINA and ISA was
released by the Hon’ble Minister Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju, MoS,
Defence. The research paper gives the details of the current
opportunities on the Indian Strategic Electronics (ISE), Govt
Policy & procurement procedures, landscape of Capabilities,
Business Areas, Certification & Licenses, Aspirations & Goals
of ISE Companies, IPR & Technology Safety Mechanisms, Focus
Areas for the Industry to look for, Dept. of Electronics & IT
Initiatives to boost growth of Electronics Industry in India
and Recommendations for greater value additions in the
country.

ELCOMOS is a most comprehensive
study of electronic components and equipment industry
conducted in recent years and attempts to bridge a huge
information gap which has plagued the growth of this segment.
Electronic components are the building blocks for this
industry. A strong electronic component manufacturing base
requires high capital investments and a supportive eco-system.
ELCOMOS Report has endeavoured to build a comprehensive
database on existing indigenous production of electronic
components
and hardware manufacturing value chain in India.

The Study also assesses the size
and trends in Output and the Market for electronic components
and assemblies as well as equipment by various sectors; it
estimates the demand-supply scenario within the country
vis-à-vis imports and exports and attempts to identify the
future drivers and enablers for the industry.

The ELCINA DIRECTORY OF INDIAN
ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY 2012 was released on 22nd February 20123
during EFY Expo at Pragati Maidan by Mr Ajay Shankar, IAS,
Member Secretary, NMCC.. The new Directory contains key
industry production and market data in addition to the other
regular sections. This is a handy compendium with easy-to-read
format, available in Print & CD Version.

The following Conference
Facilities are available in ELCINA House for holding
conferences/workshops/meetings etc:-

Hall

Seating
Capacity

Hotline Auditorium (1st Floor)

60 people

BSM Meeting Room (Basement)

25 people

ELCINA Board Room (Ground Floor)

15 people

All the above facilities are
available with full power back-up (including air conditioning)
with all modern equipments like LCD Projector/Screen, Internet
through Wi-Fi, Audio Systems, Collar/Cordless mikes etc..
Beverages/Lunch/Dinner can also be organized on request.
For details and booking, please contact Mr. V.K. Vadhwa in
ELCINA House (Tel – 011-26928050, 26924597, email –
vijay@elcina.com)

Continuing its efforts to
establish an extensive source of knowledge to serve Indian
Engineering and Electronics Industry and cultivate a
manufacturing culture in the country, ELCINA-Centre for
Knowledge Management (CKM), since its launch in 2008, has been
conducting various workshops on a variety of topics of
interest to the satisfaction of the industry with focus on
quality improvement and enhancing competitiveness. It has also
been organizing In-house training workshops in companies for
the benefit of the industry and the number of workshops is
growing every year.

S. No.

Workshop Topic

Date

Venue

1

Building a
High Performance Culture
Value Stream Mapping for Improving

The 'OSRAM DISPLAY CENTRE'
in ELCINA House is a permanent Display Centre and serves to
showcase the Indian electronics industry to visitors. The
Display Centre has now 15 Full Stalls and 4 Half/Mini Stalls,
presently occupied by the following Member-companies.

Full Stalls

Bharat Electronics Ltd,
Bangalore

EPCOS India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore

Vishay Components India Pvt Ltd,
Pune

Teknik Electromeconic Pvt Ltd,
Bangalore

SGS Tekniks Manufacturing Pvt
Ltd, Gurgaon

Samtel Group, New Delhi

Deki Electronics Ltd, Noida

Victor Component Systems Pvt
Ltd, New Delhi

Osram India, Bangalore

Elin Electronics Ltd, New
Delhi

Bhagyashree Industries,
Secunderabad

Half/Mini Stalls

Cosonic
Components Pvt Ltd, Chennai

Servel (India)
Pvt Ltd, New Delhi

CTR
Manufacturing Industries Ltd, Aurangabad

A few Full and Half/Mini Stalls are vacant at present and
members interested may kindly contact ELCINA House, New Delhi
(saly@elcina.com) for booking the same

Terms and
conditions for booking of stalls:-

Manufacturing &
Service Member-companies of ELCINA are eligible to display
their products

Flexible shelves
are provided inside the stalls. Modification in
fixtures of the basic structure will not be possible as it
runs counter to uniformity.

Lockable Storage
space will be provided below the stall for
brochures/publicity materials etc.

Audio Visual
clip/Power Point presentation will be displayed for the
visitors on LCD Panel installed in the Display Area.

The rental
charges for the Stalls for two years – FULL Stall
(Rs.20,000/-) and HALF/MINI Stall (Rs.12,000) + Service
Tax (12.26%), as per govt rules.

ELCINA Board Room is suitable for for senior
executive and board meetings. The Board Room can accommodate
15 persons on the main table with a supplementary seating for
10 persons

(c) Conference Room

Conference Room can accommodate 25 persons in Class room
seating style. This room is ideal for training sessions &
corporate meetings with complete audio visual facilities .
Seating arrangement is flexible and can be arranged as per the
requirement.

Companies committed to electronic
hardware manufacturing with substantial value addition
through production of components, subassemblies, parts,
capital goods/machinery for manufacturing of electronics
hardware, EMS providers, service providers such as
quality/product testing as well as companies designing
components and subassemblies are eligible for
membership. Equipment companies from all segments of
electronics (i.e., Consumer, Telecom, IT, Defence,
Industrial, Medical and Automobiles) are welcome to join
ELCINA membership once they commence manufacturing,
assembling or designing activities in the country.

A newsletter published by
ELCINA, New Delhi. The information contained in this newsletter is
for private circulation only. Despite our best efforts, some errors
could have crept in. You are advised to verify authenticity of the
information before further use.